


And the world's technicolour

by Celestlian



Category: Guardians of Childhood & Related Fandoms, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Bisexual Male Character, Bisexual!Nightlight, Frostlight - Relationship, M/M, Pansexual Character, Pansexual!Jack, Post-Rise of the Guardians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-08-11 05:19:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 11,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7878055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celestlian/pseuds/Celestlian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack meets Nightlight. From there, he falls. In various ways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The first time Jack met Nightlight was at a meeting. He wasn't sure which one. He just knew it was on Christmas Day, and he was introduced to him. 

"Jack, meet Katherine and Nightlight, the other Guardians!" 

Katherine looked particularly lovely, with long amber hair and beautiful shining grey eyes. She wore a yellow coat and held a book. Jack smiled and nodded to her. She returned the smile and the gesture. Jack thought she would be nice to talk to, maybe even get to know. 

When he set eyes on Nightlight, he was startled at first, mainly because he was so  _tall._ He wore silver armour, and had white hair, except the style was different; a single curl fell from the rest of his hair and hung limp at the side of his face. Jack took in his bright green eyes, his lithe, muscular frame, and most importantly, his spear. It was Jack's staff counterpart, except it was taller, and was amazingly crafted. Jack wondered who had made the spear. His first thought was:  _he's hot._

"Hey," Jack said. Nightlight just smiled slightly, a small curve of the lips.

"Hi."

"Not much of a talker is 'e?" Jack heard Aster ask. Jack shook his head in agreement, still staring. Suddenly, someone cleared their throat and Jack turned to see Tooth. 

"So...eggnog, anyone?" 

- 

Jack was happy he'd met Katherine.

They sat, talking. Occasionally he'd glance over at Nightlight. He hadn't talked to him much since he'd first set eyes on the spectral boy, but he was determined to change that. _In all due time,_ he thought to himself. 

"So, you like Patrick Ness?"

"Love him," Katherine replied. "I love his stories. He has so many original tales."

"Definitely. Though, between you and me, the representation is most important." 

"Oh, yeah, definitely. 'The Rest Of Us Just Live Here' has so much of it, it's beautiful." 

Jack nodded in genuine agreement. He'd read all the Patrick Ness books, and had loved every one. The fact that his favourite author was gay was even better. He hadn't found many role models who were similar to him in sexual orientation, but Ness had cleared up that worry.

 Katherine watched Tooth laugh and talk for a moment before looking at Jack. "Do you like her?" 

"No. I see her only as a sister." 

Katherine smiled. "Same." 

They chatted some more, until Nightlight walked over. 

"How's it going?" he asked. 

"Good, yeah." 

"What about you Jack?" 

"Oh, uh good, yeah." Jack sighed. "Look, I'm sorry for staring-" 

"It's fine. Most spirits do, but not in the way you do, obviously." He gave a subtle wink before turning to Katherine. Jack sat there, unable to process what happened. 

Nightlight confused and intrigued him.

He definitely needed to get to know him better.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see from the title, I really like Amber Run :D 
> 
> And Patrick Ness is my favourite author! If you want really good representation, I recommend 'The Rest Of Us Just Live Here'. It's confusing at first, but I assure you, the longer you read, the better it gets. It gets GOOD.


	2. Chapter 2

Over the next few weeks, Jack didn't see much of Nightlight. 

After the party, Nightlight and Katherine had left. He'd hugged Katherine, but when it came to Nightlight, they had just awkwardly nodded to one another. Before the spectral boy left, he'd turned round and looked at Jack, who had waved before sticking a hand in his hoodie. Nightlight had smiled warmly and waved back, then leapt into the air. Katherine got on her goose and the two joined Nightlight on the journey home. Jack had watched them, standing outside longer than the others. He had thought he'd never see them again.

So what a surprise it was when he saw Nightlight standing there. At this time, Jack was creating a snow day for the kids in Burgess. He was so shocked that he dropped the snowball he'd created, and was completely unprepared for the large one that thumped his back in the next moment. Jack stumbled and fell forward. In a swift motion, Nightlight lurched forward and caught him. Jack grabbed clumsily at his arms. "S-Sorry," he stammered as Nightlight helped him upright. The spectral boy shrugged. "It's okay, it happens." He watched as Jack calmed himself down, then thanked Nightlight. He grinned and threw one at Jamie, who fell into the snow. Jack laughed.

"Can I join in?"

Jack looked at Nightlight. "Sure," he replied. With a smirk, Jack suddenly threw a snowball at the boy, hitting him square in the chest. Nightlight fell and shook his head free of snow before jumping up, hitting Jack in the arm. "Hey!" Jack exclaimed. Nightlight shrugged, then grinned and made another snowball, but not before he was hit in the eye.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" Jamie ran over to Nightlight. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" 

"I'm fine," Nightlight said. "Ow." 

"No, you're not. Come on." Jamie grabbed Nightlight's hand and dragged him over to his house. He invited Jack to come in too, sitting him down. Jamie ran a cotton ball under warm water before giving it to the spectral boy, who thanked him. "No problem," Jamie said, sitting down on the same sofa as Jack. The winter spirit looked at Nightlight worriedly. 

After a few minutes, Nightlight's eye was better; he could see properly through it again. Jack and Nightlight thanked Jamie, who replied, "you're welcome. Wanna continue playing?" 

- 

After the kids went home, Jack and Nightlight sat on the roof a random house, looking at the sunset. 

"Jamie seems like a sweet kid." 

"He is. He was my first believer." Jack looked at Nightlight. "Who was yours?" 

"Her name's Laura. She was around the same age as Jamie when she started believing in me." Nightlight smiled.

"I hope Jamie never stops believing." It tumbled out of Jack's mouth without a warning. "I know he probably will, but that's my greatest fear. Him actually growing up. And if he does, I don't know what I'll do." 

Nightlight didn't say anything, just nodded. He felt the same way about Laura; if she did stop believing, he might break down. Like Jack, he didn't know what he'd do. 

For the rest of the night, the two kept talking, moving past the sensitive topic of first believers and onto sillier things, some of which made Nightlight laugh. Jack liked his laugh. It reminded him of Christmas bells.

After some hours, Nightlight got up. "Well Jack, it was nice talking to you. Hope I see you again." 

"You too," Jack replied. For a few moments, they locked eyes. Nightlight stared intensely at him until he realised what he was doing, hinted by Jack shifting uncomfortably in his spot on the roof. The spectral boy cleared his throat. 

"Right. I should probably get going. See you." 

"Bye." Jack watched as Nightlight zoomed into the air, tightening his grip on his spear as he did so. Jack noticed he had tightened the grip on his staff. He knew the two were at least acquaintances, maybe even friends. And that thought made him smile all the way back to the North Pole.


	3. Chapter 3

Tooth's head was spinning when she woke up. She wasn't sure why. She guessed it was because she hadn't been able to sleep well. She sneezed and realised she had a cold. "Oh no," she said. She looked at her calendar. "Oh NO," she said when she saw she had a meeting today. She got out of bed and got ready for the day, putting on her red coat before making her way to the North Pole.

When Tooth arrived, she saw the other Guardians, including Nightlight and Katherine, were waiting. "Where's Jack?" she asked with a frown. Everyone looked around. Suddenly, Jack backflipped down from the ceiling. "Here I am!" 

Nightlight shouted out and fell backwards. With a nervous laugh and an apology, Jack helped the spectral boy to his feet. He then looked at Tooth. "Are you ill?" 

"I have a cold," she pouted. 

"Well, I best keep away from you then," Jack chuckled.

"Have you had medication?" Katherine asked, concerned. Tooth shook her head and sneezed again. Jack winced and watched as the two females walked out the room. 

"I feel bad," Jack said. 

"It's not your fault," North reassured him. "I don't know how she got a cold anyway. She lives in South Asia."

"Yeah. Apparently when she was 'uman, she was a woman of colour."

Sandy signed with pictures. **And that's bad?**

"No, no Sandy. No, it's just strange that there seem to be no people of colour. Like, at all." 

Nightlight frowned. "So Manny's biased?" 

"No, no! Not at all. Manny chooses people who he thinks best help children. Tooth is still woman of colour; she has tan skin. If Bunny were human, he'd be dark." 

"Wait, what? Me, dark? Nah North, ya got it all wrong. I wouldn't-" 

"It's true," Nightlight said. "Since white people came to Australia in around the late 1700s, Pookas would be dark-skinned. The first white people arrived in Australia in 1788." 

"Wow. We're gone for five minutes and you guys are already in deep talk?" 

Tooth looked a little better than before, and Katherine was holding a box of tissues. She put it on the table. "Save the race talk for 10 pm guys," Tooth laughed. "So, should we get started?" 

All in all, Nightlight and Jack were bettering their friendship. North had revealed that on Pride Month, people had to go to the parades and support the LGBT kids and the kids of gay parents ('The Rainbow Squad', he called it. Jack was not impressed). They all agreed. Tooth was extremely excited to support kids. Nightlight and Jack grinned.

"Oh, and Nightlight and Jack will have to make out at some point."

Both spirits turned their heads.

"What?!" They said in unison. Bunny roared with laughter at their reaction.

"Ya really think ya WOULDN'T be kissin'? Ya have ta support LGBT kids in any way ya can, and if that means kissing, so be it! I think ya two would enjoy it."

"Yeah," Katherine giggled, "you would."

"Fine," Jack grumbled. Nightlight seemed extremely uncomfortable with this. "North, could I-"

"Onto the next thing!"

-

Jack was nervous. Tooth had noticed this.

"Jack, it's fine, I'll talk to North okay?" she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Jack nodded. Tooth flew off to talk North round to not forcing make out sessions on 18 year old spirits.

The winter spirit was grateful. He guessed kissing Nightlight would be okay, but he'd never kissed anyone before, let alone had sex with them. Even though he was pan, he still felt like he wasn't ready. 

At that moment, Sandy floated in. He sat down next to Jack, and didn't sign anything, just placed a hand on his shoulder in a fatherly way. Jack smiled at the small golden man. 

"Thanks Sandy." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, I didn't mean to offend any LGBTIQA+ person or fellow people of colour with this. It's just that usually in fanfics, the topic of race isn't usually touched upon, so I thought I might do something surrounding it.
> 
> Also, thank you to @Fandom_Nutter for the information about white people arriving in Australia and historically correcting me! You helped loads! :)


	4. Chapter 4

The fourth time was just like any other day. Nightlight had been reading, curled up against a window, when he'd heard a soft thump. Surprised, he looked up and saw Jack, who had sat down opposite him. Nightlight looked at the shorter teen. "Hi." 

 

"Hey." 

 

Jack fell to tapping his knee, a constant rhythm that flowed through him like an infinite energy, succumbing Nightlight to a daze only known when one is in a trance. The spectral boy watched Jack's face carefully. He was thinking, his staff clutched in one hand. His jawline was as chiselled as Nightlight's, maybe even more. His icy blue eyes sparkled in the cold winter afternoon light, and Nightlight felt like lurching forward and kissing him. However, he restrained himself and instead made content with just looking at Jack before he snapped out of his trance. His focus averted to the white landscape outside. "You make the most beautiful winters," he said softly. 

 

"Excuse me?" 

 

Jack was brought back from his thoughts at Nightlight's compliment. 

 

"I'm glad I met you Jack." 

"Uh...thank you," Jack replied, feeling an unusual tingle in his chest as he watched the Guardian of Imagination look out the window. Nightlight himself was beautiful, but in a charming, mysterious way. He didn't talk much. Jack wondered why. 

 

The two sat in comfortable silence before Jack spoke. "Tooth changed North's mind, you know. We don't have to kiss now." 

Nightlight didn't say anything at the news, just nodded.  

He continued watching the snow fall before getting up. Jack looked at him. 

"Where are you going?" he asked. He was surprised by the slight plea in his voice. Nightlight had the same reaction. 

"To get another book, Jack," he said with a chuckle. The winter spirit flushed red, seeing the book that lay flat on the windowsill. 

"Of course." 

The spectral boy raised a brow before shaking his head and walking round the shelves, disappearing from sight. 

 

Jack exhaled shakily. He didn't know what it was; he just seemed drawn to Nightlight. He didn't know why; he had figured out he was demiromantic a while ago anyway. Maybe it was because he was getting to know the other youngest Guardian well. He didn't know him well enough to ask about his past, he knew that, but the two were well on their way to becoming close friends, despite the tension between them. Jack was scared of it, but at the same time excited. He wasn't sure how to respond when Nightlight came back with an even bigger book than before. 

"JRR Tolkien? Who's that?" 

"The author of 'The Hobbit'. I suggest you read it," Nightlight said, settling down with the book once more. Jack nodded. "Alright." He stood up. "I'll borrow it after you then...If you'll let me." 

"Sure," Nightlight replied. He looked at Jack for a few moments, as if scrutinising him. 

A blush rising on his cheeks, Jack turned and headed out of the library, but not before he awkwardly nodded to the spectral boy. It felt familiar, all of it. It was like a repeat of their first meeting, Jack thought, as he walked down the hallway. 

He didn't know what existed between him and Nightlight. It was strange, often alien and unknown to him. But today...There were some comforting aspects to it. He didn't like it one bit, but he was determined to find out. 


	5. Chapter 5

"Tooth!" 

The fairy turned round on seeing Jack. She was attending to her minifairies in North's workshop. "Jack? What are you doing here?" 

"I..." he started breathlessly, but soon was breathing heavily, trying to get some oxygen into his lungs. Tooth looked at him worriedly. When he assured her he was fine and regained his posture, it was only then that she relaxed. 

"Are you okay?" 

"I don't know," Jack replied earnestly. "I don't know how I feel." 

"What do you mean by that?" Tooth asked gently. 

"Like...um...I don't know how I feel about Nightlight?" He didn't know why he asked that. Tooth frowned. 

"In a friendly way, or more?" 

"More than friends," Jack said. "It's strange. There's something between us and I don't know what it is." 

"Judging by how you feel, it's most likely romantic or even sexual tension."

Romantic Jack could definitely handle, but sexual? He wasn't so sure about that.

"Sexual?"

"You know what it is, Jack," Tooth shrugged delicately.

"Well, what do I say to Katherine? I mean, should I even tell her?" 

At this point, Nightlight was walking down the hallway when he heard his best friend's name being said. He frowned, pressing his ear against the wooden door. Was that... 

"You can tell her if you want. I'm sure she'll understand."

"Hopefully. I mean, it's so weird."

"Jack, I promise you'll be fine. Just talk to her," Tooth encouraged Jack. The winter spirit looked at the fairy. "Thanks Tooth. You're the best."

The two hugged and then parted. Jack calmed his nerves before opening the door, only to find that Nightlight was slamming him against the wall. Jack could feel the tension between them. He didn't dare close his eyes as Nightlight's bore into his own icy blue orbs.

"What did you say about her?" he hissed. Jack frowned.

"Whaddya mean?"

"I heard all of it."

Jack's eyes widened. Nightlight heard all of the conversation? That meant...that meant...

"Oh no." 

"Oh yes." 

"But you like Katherine." 

"Yes-no, wait, she's only a friend! Jack!" Nightlight exclaimed, watching the boy run down the hallway. He ran a hand through his hair. "Jesus," he muttered to himself. He chased the winter spirit, who suddenly created an ice slide. Nightlight lost his footing and shouted out, falling and sliding down. Jack saw Bunny come out of his room. "What's goin'-" 

Jack winced and watched as Nightlight crashed straight into Bunny. 

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I-I didn't..." Nightlight trailed off and whimpered, seeing Bunny holding a possibly broken nose. The Pooka looked angry, really, really angry. The spectral boy watched as Bunny growled before trying to advance on him, but slipped and fell. "I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Nightlight exclaimed. He tried getting up, but he couldn't. He shivered violently as the cold seeped through him. Bunny finally got up and stepped in front of Nightlight, who was now crying silent tears, curled up against the end wall of the hallway.

"JACK!" Bunny roared. 


	6. Chapter 6

Katherine sat next to her best friend, who was sat next to a radiator, shivering violently. She rubbed the spectral boy's back, hoping to soothe him. 

After Bunny had shouted Jack's name, he knew the spirit was nowhere to be found. He then turned on Nightlight and he thought he was about to hit him, but instead the Pooka helped him up and alerted North, Tooth and Katherine of the incident. They were now in the infirmary, and Nightlight was sitting cross legged, worrying about Jack. Yes, it would take him a long time to forgive him for what he'd done; he was traumatised, but at the same time he couldn't help but bite his nails over where Jack could have disappeared to. He knew Tooth had gone to find Jack. He was glad it was Tooth and not the other Guardians; they wouldn't know the full story. Like him, they had been left in the dark to wonder what the real story was, and Tooth was the only one who seemed to know it.

"I..." 

"Nightlight?" 

He took a shaky breath. "I think I'm ready to talk now." 

He told her what happened. Katherine frowned. 

"I think he likes you but...I'm not sure." Nightlight pulled his knees up to his chest and after that, remained silent. If Jack didn't like Katherine, who did he like? 

- 

"Jack!" 

The winter spirit looked at Tooth. "Tooth please-" 

"Nightlight," she said suddenly. Jack was immediately alert. "Where is he?" 

"Um, you uh...kinda traumatised him." Tooth winced as the words left her mouth. 

"What? What do you mean?" 

She gasped at her sudden realisation. "You didn't LEAVE him with Bunny, did you?" 

"Maybe?" 

"Oh God." Tooth put her head in her hands, which she rubbed over her face before sighing. "Jack...Nightlight is really scared. You need to come back and apologise." 

"Alright," Jack said. "I will." 

As the two were transported back to the North Pole via a snow globe, Jack reflected on how bad he felt about the whole situation. 

He knew that Nightlight probably felt worse. 

 


	7. Chapter 7

 

It had been two weeks since the incident. Jack had feverishly apologised to the point where he ran out of oxygen and nearly fainted. Nightlight had kept him from falling, and then had kept him there, holding him firmly by the shoulders. Jack had blushed and Nightlight had finally let him go. 

 _He probably knew,_  Jack had thought later that day as he had stared at the ceiling. _He probably knew and now he's avoiding me._

That was completely not true. It was more that  _Jack_ had been avoiding  _him_ , but the winter spirit didn't want to admit it to himself. Not in a million years. 

The Easter party was coming up, and loads of spirits were coming to the North Pole. Jack was really nervous. Besides Katherine and Nightlight, he had never met other spirits outside the Guardians. He hoped it wouldn't be bad.

Turned out it was going to be hell. 

"Hey, I'm Félicie," a girl said. She had red hair and green eyes, and was quite young, about 11. She reminded Jack of his little sister. 

"Jack," he said as they shook hands. "You okay? You look nervous." 

"Yeah, well...loads of spirits are older than me," she said, looking around. "I don't exactly feel comfortable with older men." Jack saw a young man walk over. He was about 20, with brown hair, brown eyes and hedgehog spikes protruding from his back. Jack assumed that this was the guy who was the spirit of Hedgehog Day. 

"Hey Félicie," he smirked. The girl stepped away from him. Jack watched him, trying to scrutinise him like Nightlight had done to himself all those weeks earlier.

"What's wrong? Scared?"

"Leave her alone." Jack stepped in front of her. 

"Oh, Jacky, right?" he said, seemingly amused by his act of courage. "And um...what would you happen to be the spirit of? Drowning?" he sneered. 

"Actually, I'm the spirit of winter, and if you so much as even think about Félicie, I'm going make sure you wish you were never born." 

"Oh, how funny. You standing up for your sister?" 

"W-What?" 

"Come on Jack. Everyone knows your story." He was circling the winter spirit now, like a predator circling its prey, ready to pounce at any moment. "You saved your sister by sacrificing yourself. In doing so, you drowned and gained your powers of winter." He snarled the last word in disgust. 

"I-I don't-" 

"Come on Jack," he said loudly, drawing attention from some of the other spirits. "Tell us your story." 

Jack glared. "No." 

"Your family have been dead for more than three hundred and twenty years. You spent three hundred of those years wandering alone. The Man in the Moon ignored you..." 

"Stop it!" Félicie exclaimed. She tried to invade but the Hedgehog hit her backwards. She would have broken her arm if Tooth hadn't caught her. "Hedgehog. Unhand him." 

"Jack shouldn't have been chosen. He didn't do anything great! He's just a guy who DROWNED in a-"

Suddenly, through his tears, Jack saw Nightlight walk up to Hedgehog and punch him in the face. "Don't you dare say another word about him," he growled lowly to the man, who was now on the floor. When he didn't respond, Nightlight narrowed his eyes. The spectral boy gripped him by the ear harshly and pulled him to his feet. "Alright, alright, I give!" he exclaimed. "I won't say another word about him." 

"Ever. You won't insult him ever again," Nightlight snarled. Jack managed to blink his tears away.

As he was led away by Nightlight, Jack looked back at Félicie, who was rubbing her arm and closing her eyes, seemingly in pain. Jack knew exactly why he defended her. It was like Hedgehog said. 

She was just like his little sister.


	8. Chapter 8

Nightlight sat Jack down in the library. 

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you-" 

"I'm fine," Jack said. Nightlight nodded. The duo sat in silence. Jack could just  _feel_ the tension radiating off him. 

"Look Nightlight, I don't like Katherine in that way. It was all a mistake. I don't think you heard all of the conversation." 

"Why do you think that?" 

"Because if you had, you would probably be flirting with me right now, or...I don't know." Jack looked at the spectral boy. Nightlight was about to speak, but then decided against it. He didn't want to irate Jack further. 

The longer they sat, the more Nightlight noticed things. The shade of Jack's icy blue eyes. The individual white hairs on his head, and how they seemed to glow as the moonlight struck his figure. The slight signature smirk on his lips that he usually wore when neutral. Did he even know that? That he was breaking Nightlight's walls, chip by chip, until there were none left? Did the winter spirit even know what effect he had on Nightlight?

The spectral boy found himself staring once again. This time, he only just managed to stop himself from kissing the youth in front of him. Jack was definitely important. He didn't know if he felt the same way, however. Nightlight sat cross legged, looking at Jack in silence before reaching over and picking up 'The Hobbit'. He resumed the chapter he was on. 

Jack's ice blue eyes flickered from staring into space to the book as he was pulled out his thoughts. "That's a long book," he chuckled. He saw Nightlight's lips curve upwards.

"Yeah, it is." The spectral boy lowered the book and gazed at Jack. The winter spirit gulped, looking at his face before his eyes darted away to look at anything but the handsome Guardian in front of him. He failed and his eyes landed on Nightlight again. He fidgeted with his fingers. He didn't know what to say. He was lost for words. He decided to go and get a book. 

He ran his hand over the shelves. He picked up a book. The title read,  _'The Book Thief'_. Jack thought it looked good. He sat by the windowsill and began reading. Halfway through the first chapter, he looked up and noticed Nightlight had gone. Where? Surely he hadn't finished 'The Hobbit' _that_ quickly, had he? 

Suddenly, Jack heard a muffled scream. He looked up and frowned, putting down his book. "Nightlight?" he called. "You there?" He walked further into the library, trying find his friend (crush...potential lover...whatever). 

When he rounded the corner, he was shocked to see Pitch standing there, with Nightlight struggling in his arms. Jack growled. "Let him go." 

"What are you going to do Jack? Hmm? You don't have your staff. You don't care about him."

"I do."

"Really? How much?" 

 _To the point where I would die for him,_ Jack thought. He realised when he saw Pitch's smirk that he'd said that out loud.

"Oh, so it's like that then?"

Jack blushed. "I uh...no?" 

Pitch just chuckled. "Young love. So strange." 

"It's not-" Nightlight said, but suddenly tendrils were covering his mouth. "Mmph! Mmph!"

The Guardian watched in horror as Nightlight's eyelashes began to flutter and his eyes started to close. 

"So Jack, who's it going to be? You...or him?" 

Jack opened his mouth to say something when Pitch's eyes widened and he suddenly vanished. Jack caught Nightlight as he fell limp in his arms. The winter spirit gulped. He knew it would be hard to explain _this_ to the others. 


	9. Chapter 9

Jack sat in the Infirmary, looking at Nightlight. He hadn't alerted the others. He was scared they'd be angry at him, like Bunny had been all those weeks ago. He knew the Pooka still wasn't over the incident.

"Sandy. Sandy!" Jack hissed as the golden man walked past the Infirmary. "Help me out? Please?"

Sandy saw Nightlight and his eyes widened. He looked at Jack, then at Nightlight. Some pictures appeared over his head, and the images were enough to make Jack's eyes as wide as Sanderson's. 

"No, no! Not like that. Look..." he told how Pitch tried to kidnap Nightlight. Sandy frowned. **Should I tell the others?** he signed. 

"N-No, no. Look, I know what I'm going to say may be hard for you but...could you keep this a secret?" 

Sandy looked at Jack, obviously struggling with the decision. After some time, he nodded.

"Thank you so much Sandy." Jack hugged him. Sandy was more than happy to return the hug before pulling away. He sat on the other side of Nightlight's bed and removed the black nightmare sand that tousled his silver hair. Nightlight groaned in a way that made Jack blush slightly. As soon as he sat up, Jack threw his arms around him, hugging him. 

"Oh sugar honey ice tea!" 

"Oh uh, hey Jack. W-What happened?" Nightlight asked Sandy. The golden man signed the events as Jack told him and Nightlight paused, looking at Jack. "Thanks." 

"Welcome." 

Sanderson made a motion to get up.  **Well, I best be going. See you.**

"Bye," Jack said. Nightlight didn't say anything, just smiled and waved. The duo watched Sandy leave the room." 

"Smile and wave boys, smile and wave." 

Nightlight looked at Jack. 

"Quote Madagascar one more time and I'll punch you." 


	10. Chapter 10

"AAAAAHHHH!"

"What the-?" Bunny started, but North shushed him.

"Was that Jack?" Tooth asked worriedly. Nightlight shrugged and Sandy had a question mark over his head. **Sounded like him,** he signed. 

"Should I go look?" Katherine asked. 

"Please," North said. Katherine walked out the Globe Room and stared at Jack, who was on the ground.

"Jack! Are you alright?"

Katherine helped him up. The winter spirit nodded. "Yep. Just fell down the stairs."

"I'm not so sure," the redhead frowned, looking at the black sand on Jack's hoodie. The boy noticed and he jumped, trying to wipe it off.

"Get it off me get it off me get it off meee!"

"Jack! Calm down!" Katherine exclaimed, but Jack was still jumping around.

"What's going on? Jack?" Tooth asked, flying upwards to inspect him.

"Black sand's stuck to my damn jumper! I don't know how it got there!"

"Katherine's right, calm down Frostbite," Bunny said. "You'll be able to think clearer."

Once he had calmed his nerves, Jack looked down. He saw Katherine, Bunny and North looking up at him. He looked to Tooth. All wore the same look of pity on their face.

_Pity is an insult, kindness is a miracle._

Jack looked down at Nightlight, who just looked at him kindly. He knew who to trust. 

Slowly, he flew down, clutching his staff. "Sorry," he said quietly. "I need to go." He turned away before flying out the window.  

"Jack!"

Suddenly, Nightlight was flying beside him. A wave of panic came over Jack and flew faster. The spectral boy caught up with him. "Jack, you need to stop running away! It doesn't help anything!" 

"Flying away, you mean!" Jack threw a snowball at Nightlight and knocked him off course. He flew even faster, relieved that he'd lost him. After a few minutes, Nightlight appeared right in front of Jack. Their bodies slammed together. The duo shouted out and tumbled down a hill. 

Jack breathed heavily. His staff and his companion's spear were tossed to the side. Nightlight was above him, looking down at him. His arms trapped Jack and the winter spirit couldn't move. Their mouths were nearly on one another, with only a two inch gap between them.

"Um...Nightlight..." 

"Oh." The spectral boy rolled onto the snow and sat up beside Jack, running a hand through his silver hair. He looked at the winter spirit, amused. "Jack." 

"Yes?" 

"You're blushing." 

"Am I? I didn't notice." Jack's icy blue eyes darted away from Nightlight's piercing gaze. The Guardian of Imagination just smirked before getting up. He grabbed his spear and threw the staff at Jack, who just managed to catch it. He fell in the snow again as he did so. Nightlight chuckled, holding out a hand. "Alright, on your feet," he said as Jack took his hand. He pulled him to his feet. Suddenly, Jack jumped in the air.

"Race you!"

Nightlight didn't sat anything, just grinned and followed Jack back to the North Pole. 


	11. Chapter 11

Pitch watched from the shadows as Jack and Nightlight flew back. The two landed and the spectral boy cleared his throat. 

"After you," he heard Nightlight say. He saw Jack stammer a thanks before stepping in. He chuckled. 

"So our Guardian has a crush. Isn't that sweet?" he asked his horse, Onyx, who neighed in response. Nightlight looked around on hearing the sound, wary. He frowned on spotting Pitch and walked towards him. 

"What are you doing here?" the spectral boy asked. Pitch just smirked. 

"I could say the same thing," Pitch replied. "That was quite...gentlemanly of you, I have to say," the Nightmare King commented, looking at his nails in a bored fashion. Nightlight narrowed his eyes. "It's not like that." 

"Bullshit. I saw your expression. You stare at him when he's not looking." 

Nightlight glared. "Lay off Pitch." He turned away and walked off, fast, before suddenly bumping into Jack again. The winter spirit began to ramble. "I was wondering where you'd gone, I-" 

Jack's staff clattered to the ground as he was immediately lifted up. 

"Jack!" Nightlight shouted. He tried to get him, but Pitch only laughed and knocked Nightlight aside as Jack struggled in his clutches, trying to push the tendrils down as they persisted on wrapping around him, squeezing him tight like a cobra. 

"Pitch, let..me..go!" The winter spirit exclaimed, albeit breathlessly, due to the tendrils nearly squeezing the life out of him. Pitch just made his tendrils squeeze tighter, and Jack realised he was on the verge of unconsciousness. His fighting became weaker, and his hands fell limp at the sides. 

"JACK!" 

The Nightmare King was too busy smirking in victory to realise that Nightlight was rushing towards him. He sliced the tendrils that held Jack with his spear and helped him down. Pitch shouted out and fell. He landed on the ground and looked up, seeing the Guardians surrounding him, various weapons pointed at his figure, all with expressions of anger and determination. The Nightmare King sighed as he got to his feet smoothly, putting his hands up in surrender.

"Alright, you got me. I tried to steal your recruit."

"He's our friend," Katherine said sharply. Pitch just smirked at that. 

"Well, I wouldn't be so quick to say that, my dear." His eyes flickered to Nightlight before he melted away into the shadows.

"Jack, are you alright?" Katherine asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Thanks Tooth," he said as the fairy passed his staff to him. 

"I thought we defeated Pitch," Bunny said. Sandy looked back at the trail of black sand that sat where Pitch had disappeared. 

 **It seems not,** he signed.  **I wonder who he's after this time.**

"I don't know Sandy. I don't know," North sighed, ghosting a hand over his face as he led the gang inside. "Come! We will prepare the defences." 

Nightlight stopped for a moment, feeling someone watching him. He looked back. He saw Pitch standing there. The Nightmare King winked at him before disappearing again. The spectral boy shuddered. 

He'd have to steer clear from the outside from now on.


	12. Chapter 12

Sandy had woken up with a start. Something wasn't right. It was tingling in the back of his mind, a horrifying truth that he couldn't bear to face.

He shivered as got out of bed, looking around. He sensed the evil lurking in the shadows. He glared at the man that materialised from the darkness.  

**What are you doing here Pitch?**

"Really Sandman, that's not a nice greeting is it?" 

The small golden man clenched his fists.  **Stay away from Jack.**

"Oh, it's not Jack I want," Pitch said, walking towards him. "A certain...sprite." 

**No. You won't.**

"Oh, but I can." Pitch tied Sandy to the wall. "And I'll use anyone to help me." He smiled widely, flashing his sharp fangs at the man. Suddenly, he was hit back. With a growl, Pitch launched forwards, but Sandy was quicker, using his golden dreamsand to throw him out his window. 

"Sandy?" 

Sandy looked at North, who stood there, eyes wide. 

"Did Pitch come in here?" 

Sandy told North, whose eyes widened. He placed a hand on Sandy's shoulder. "Go wake up Jack. He needs to protect Burgess."

Sandy nodded before zooming away to wake up the winter spirit. A feeling of dread built up in the pit of his stomach. He had a bad feeling about this. 

- 

Jamie was asleep when he heard a noise. He quickly woke up, rubbing his eyes before looking around the room. He saw a shadow and jumped up, narrowing his eyes. "Pitch.  _Leave._ " 

"No. You see, I need someone to be my assistant."

"Assistant? In what?"

Good. He was listening. "I plan to destroy what Jack values most."

"M-Me?"

"No, no. Not you Jamie. Someone else." 

This hit Jamie like a lightning bolt. He had always seen Jack as the older brother he'd never had, but now...

"What do you mean, not me?" 

"A male who glows bright. You know him?" 

"Nightlight! Wait...you're saying you'd KILL him?" 

"Yes." 

Jamie shook his head. "I won't let you hurt my friend." 

"Well, there's plenty more I can turn to." Jamie saw the devilish look in Pitch's eyes and his eyes widened. 

"Don't you dare."

"Oh don't worry, I'm not going to hurt your family little boy. No, it'll be someone else." 

"I'm not a child," Jamie growled, clenching his fists. "I'll have you know I'm  _16_."

"Whatever," Pitch said nonchalantly. "I just need someone."

"If you hurt my friends, I will kill you!" The teen was shaking all over, tears streaming down his face.

"I won't. I just need someone." Pitch's eyes lit up at a potential assistant. "I have it. Sorry Jamie, but...goodnight."

He snapped his fingers and the Jamie fell asleep, his memory wiped of his encounter with Pitch.

The Bogeyman melted into the shadows. He knew who to manipulate. 


	13. Chapter 13

"Where's Jack?" Tooth asked, looked around worriedly. "Why isn't he back?" 

The other Guardians were biting their nails over the winter spirit's return. Tooth had just voiced their opinions on his unusually long absence. 

uddenly, Jack flew in with Jamie. He landed on the ground. Before any of the others could speak, Jack looked at Nightlight. There was an expression of sombre determination on his face. 

"We need to go to Brooklyn. NOW." 

Nightlight's eyes widened in realisation. North headed to the sleigh with the others. 

"Why do we need to go to Brooklyn?" Jamie asked, confused as he climbed into the sleigh after Bunny and Tooth. The human teen looked to the others, yearning for an answer. 

"No time. Let's go!" North said, completely dismissing Jamie's question.

Once they were in the air, the Russian got out his snow globe and whispered to it, "Brooklyn." Immediately a portal opened up and the sleigh zoomed through. The vortex snapped closed behind them.

-

The Guardians landed in the streets. It was chaos. Although people were asleep, the noise of the nightmare sand, if they heard it, would have been enough to wake them up.

The black sand then stopped in front of them.

"Ah, the Guardians! How are you all?" 

"Pitch! Leave this place now!" Tooth shouted angrily. 

"Oh, but don't you want to meet my little assistant that I picked up?"

A teenage girl with light brown hair and beautiful hazel eyes glared down at the Guardians. 

Nightlight's heart stopped. 

"Whoa," Jamie whispered. He had gotten out of the sleigh and was now staring up at the duo. 

"No," Nightlight whispered. "You didn't." 

"Oh, but I did," Pitch cackled. "I told her. She was heartbroken." 

"Told her what?" Nightlight said angrily. 

"That you loved someone else." 

The spectral boy ran a hand through his hair. He didn't know she'd fallen for him. He thought it was just friendly. He should've known. 

Nightlight flew upwards. "Laura..." 

"No!" She stepped back. "I  _loved_ you! You were like the older brother I never had!" 

"Oh," Jack whispered. "Pitch thought it was romantic." 

"How typical," Bunny scoffed. "Heteronormativity never goes down well." 

Nightlight frowned. "I thought Pitch said you loved me romantically." 

"No. No I..." her voice trailed off into a growl. Pitch smiled. 

"Bye bye, light boy." 

Suddenly, a wave of black sand hit Nightlight in the chest and he went flying downwards. 

"NIGHTLIGHT!" Jack screamed. In a burst of anger, he sent an ice bolt towards Pitch.

Jack ran over to Nightlight and helped him up. The spectral boy was coughing, but he soon regained himself, grabbing his spear and zooming upwards. He saw that the dangerous gaze was still in Laura's eyes. Nightlight frowned. Why was her hair turning white?

He pushed it to the back of his mind however, and watched as the others were on the cloud, trying to defeat Pitch. Jack helped too, and soon Pitch was on his knees. Laura was lying on the ground, trying to get up. Nightlight decided to take the final shot to get rid of Pitch once and for all. He lunged forward.

In a last attempt to defend himself, Pitch pushed his assistant in front of him...

 

...and made the spear strike Laura in the chest. 

 

The girl let out a scream. Nightlight gasped and stumbled backwards, watching as the darkness that consumed her was chased away by the weapon that had struck her. The light from Nightlight's spear spun outwards from the teenage believer's heart and in a gigantic, white flash, everything exploded.

 

* * *

 

The Guardians were transported back to the North Pole. Bunny, North, Sandy and Tooth were unconscious on the floor. Jack had just woken up and heard Nightlight sobbing and Katherine shushing him, like a gentle mother would. 

In that moment, Jack knew what it was like to lose someone. He knew what his sister must have felt like when he drowned, and he knew Nightlight must be hit by the feeling, over and over again, as if it was neverending. 

 

 

Laura was gone. 


	14. Chapter 14

Nightlight was reading. Jack walked into the library. He took in a deep breath. He approached the spectral boy. 

"Hi." 

"You froze her." 

"What?" 

"Her hair turned white." Jack sat down on the windowsill, listening. "The reason it hurt her so much was because there was ice surrounding her heart." 

"Oh. I...I can't say I'm sorry, because I know it won't be enough." 

Nightlight looked him and put his book down. He got up from the windowsill. "It isn't."

The spirit had a cold fire in those beautiful green orbs of his, and he advanced on Jack, whose eyes widened. He backed away towards the door of the library, but one flash from Nightlight's spear locked it. Jack panicked, his blues flitting from one side to the other, as if trying to look for an escape. His hands shook. Then, he slumped to the floor. 

Nightlight watched him, silent as Jack stared into space. He didn't know what to do. Nightlight wasn't good with these sorts of situations. He took a deep breath, like in the way Jack had earlier, and went to sit down beside him. 

"You know, I'm not blaming you." 

"Bullshit." 

Nightlight looked over at Jack. There was a long pause before he spoke.

"Listen, I-" 

"No, YOU listen. For years I've been blamed and told off and you expect your feelings to go numb because you've been blamed so many times, you should be used to it, right? But you never are. They're always there, taunting you and never-ending. I mean, yes I froze her, and I'm sorry, but..." the winter spirit's eyes suddenly widened in realisation and he jumped up. 

"Jack?" Nightlight asked, confused. 

"I froze her, but your...your spear, it...oh my God! We have to search for Laura! Now!" 

On the computers, they searched for Laura Harlow. Her location came up. "Burgess?" Nightlight asked, even more confused than before. "Why-" 

"Come on, let's go!"

Before Nightlight could stop him, Jack flew out. With a laugh and a slight shake of the head at his companion's typical enthusiasm, Nightlight followed. 

He hoped Jack was right. 

 

- 

 

"Urgh..." 

Pale eyelids lifted up to reveal beautiful, shining hazel eyes. Laura looked around, and saw her mother holding her hand, asleep, her head nodding downwards. The teenage girl just smiled and gently squeezed her hand. Immediately the woman's eyes shot open. She saw her daughter looking back at her. She sobbed and hugged Laura, who hugged back.

"You're awake! Oh darling," she whispered, pulling away from the hug and kissing her forehead. The doctors walked in. 

"Well, you're awake! From today, you can go back home." 

"Yes!...Wait. This isn't Groove's Hospital. Mum?" Laura looked at her mother, who let out a breath. 

"We moved. The doctors at Groove's...They didn't know what to do...They wanted to end your life, because they thought..." she began to cry again. "They thought there was no point in keeping you alive!"

Her mother's body racked with sobs. It was heartbreaking for Laura.

"Mum...it's okay, we're here now. In uh..." 

"B-Burgess. We moved state. I know it may seem overdramatic, but...It was the best for you. People are different,  _better_ here...and that Jamie is so kind-"

"Jamie?" Laura asked, puzzled. Her mother laughed gently, wiping her eyes and calming down from her outburst.

"Yes, dear. Jamie Bennett. He lives here. He carried you home, you know. His mother is so lovely...she supported me all she could." 

"Sounds like a nice guy," Laura remarked gently. She was at first shocked that they had moved state, but then again, her old home was a flat, and the two Harlows hadn't been able to cope as well as they could. On top of that, Brooklyn had been rife with crime and gangs. She was glad she was somewhere safe. 

"So. Finally awake, huh?" 

Laura looked up and saw a handsome teenage boy her age, with dark brown hair and matching warm, dark eyes. He was quite tall, about 5 ft 8, and an air of happiness around him.

"And you must be the famous Jamie Bennett."

"Pleasure to meet you. I've heard so many things about you," Jamie said, shaking her hands. "It's nice to meet you face to face as opposed to having to hear stories from others. Not that your mum's tales aren't amazing." Jamie paused, looking at her, his hand lingering on hers before slowly pulling away. "You're really pretty," he said softly.  

Laura flushed pink. "Thank you." 

"You ready to go home Laura?" the doctor asked. The light brown-haired girl nodded with a smile. She was freed from her confines and the trio walked down the hallway towards the car. 

Suddenly, Jack and Nightlight flew in through the window. Nightlight gasped and ran towards her, hugging her and spinning both of them round in the process.

"Laura!" 

"Nightlight!"

The two continued hugging before Jack cleared his throat. Embarrassed, Nightlight stepped away.

"Jack."

"Laura." 

They shook hands. Laura jumped and pulled her hand away from his.

"You're cold." 

"That's Jack Frost for you," Jamie grinned, punching Jack in the arm. 

"Hey!" Jack frowned, rubbing the area Jamie had punched. The brown haired boy laughed and soon, Jack had joined in. 

After the reunion, they all hugged. The mother was watching them. She didn't mind that her daughter still believed in the Guardians. Secretly, she did too, and could see them clearly. 

"Come on Laura, Jamie. Let's go." 

"See you." 

"Bye!" The trio called. Mrs Harlow waved to the two teenage boys before walking out the hospital with the two humans.

"Who was she waving to?" Jack asked, confused. 

"I believe she was waving to us, Jack," Nightlight laughed at how oblivious Jack was. "Let's go."

The two leapt into the air and made their way towards the North Pole. 

"She can see us! She can see us...!" Jack did a celebratory loop-the-loop with his staff. Nightlight rolled his eyes, smiling at his antics, and raced him to their destination.  


	15. Chapter 15

Katherine watched the snow whirl round, a blizzard in the snow globe but a fun activity to people. She looked up and saw Nightlight land. She got up and he hugged her tightly. Jack stood in the doorway, looking at the two with a slight, gentle smile.

"She's alive?" Katherine asked, tearing up. Nightlight nodded. She began crying into his armour; not out of despair, but of sheer happiness.

It was then Jack decided to leave them alone, going out the door and into the hallway.

He closed his eyes, sighing as he remembered what he'd done all those weeks ago. Did Nightlight still hate him? Probably. 

The conjured up image of Nightlight crying while curled up against the wall and Bunny screaming Jack's name haunted his mind. His imagination had no boundaries. 

"Jack?" 

The winter spirit opened his eyes and saw Tooth looking at him worriedly. This time it wasn't pity. It was kindness. 

_Pity is an insult, kindness is a miracle._

"Tooth...do you think Nightlight still hates me?" 

"For what, Jack?" 

He bit his lip softly and looked down. "For that thing I did all those weeks ago." 

"Jack..." Tooth said. She trailed off and rubbed a hand over her face. "In all honesty - and I think it's best to be honest here - Nightlight hasn't forgiven you for what you did. Even though he may seem nice now, he's still bitter about it. Whatever you do...don't bring it up with him."

Jack took Tooth's advice. After all, he wouldn't forget that order, ever...right?

 

-

 

"You loooove her."

"No I don't!" 

"Yes you do. Jamie and Laura sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G," Sophie sang. 

"Stop!" Jamie laughed, swatting her arm playfully. 

Sophie was sat on Jamie's bed. It had been three hours since Laura had come out of hospital, and Jamie was struggling to forget her. Sophie just watched him.

 

After a few moments of silence, she said, "You know, if Laura likes you, she'll be the one to confess." 

"You really think so?" Jamie asked her with a smile. 

"Maybe." Sophie's response made Jamie's smile waver. "I'm not entirely sure." 

"Well, I need to try and forget her, so if you could stop trying to convince me that I love her, that would be great." 

Hurt, Sophie got up from the bed. She opened the bedroom door and looked back at Jamie.

"You know, maybe you do. Cause then you wouldn't be in so much denial."

With that, she left. Jamie groaned and flopped onto his bed, putting his head in his hands.

For an eight year old, Sophie sure was mature, and for a sixteen year old, he was an idiot. 

He needed to tell someone, or else. 

 

 

 


	16. Chapter 16

"You're not in the library for once." 

Nightlight chuckled. "I guess not." He hummed a tune that sounded familiar to Jack's ears. It was Halsey. He grinned, lying down next to him. 

"So you like Halsey?"

"Mhmm," Nightlight nodded. He stared at the ceiling. 

The two teenagers were quiet. Nightlight absentmindedly began playing with Jack's hair, continuing to hum Halsey (Which song was it? Castle? I Walk The Line? Gasoline? Control?).

Jack's eyes closed at the sensation, letting Nightlight play with his hair as he focused on trying to bring back more memories of his sister. They were buried there, at the back of his mind. He needed them to resurface. However, he only got Nightlight's sobbing and Bunny's shouting. Immediately the winter spirit sat up, breathing hard. Nightlight frowned, concerned. "Jack?" 

Jack buried his head in his hands. "What did I do? Tell me Nightlight. How did I hurt you that day? How shitty am I?" 

Unknown to Jack, the spectral boy's eyes narrowed. He growled.

"Very." 

"That's understandable-" 

Jack was suddenly lifted up by the collar of his hoodie. 

"Hey! Put me down!" He exclaimed. Nightlight slammed him against the wall, angry. His arms pinned him against the wallpaper of his bedroom.  

"You traumatised me!" 

"I know that!" 

"You owe me a damn apology." Nightlight's voice was low.  

"I can't." 

"What do you mean, you can't?!" 

"It's not good enough! It's never good enough! For you, I'm never good enough!" Jack shouted.

 

Nightlight was taken aback by his last sentence. It buzzed around in his mind. His green eyes flicked down to Jack's lips. The winter spirit had calmed himself down. The tension was at its highest now. Jack could just sense it. 

The spectral teen leaned forward on his arms. Jack looked at him, his heart pounding in his chest.

"Nightlight?" 

Suddenly, his lips met his. Jack kissed back, wrapping his arms around Nightlight's neck, pulling him closer. Nightlight kissed deeper, his arms wrapping around Jack's waist. He growled and Jack shivered at the sound. The green eyed boy pulled away and Jack just stared at him, shocked. 

"All you has to do was ask, Jack," Nightlight said. He gave him a wink before leaving the room, leaving Jack starstruck. The winter spirit tried to process what had just happened. 

"Holy shit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It happened! *screams* 
> 
> I really like this chapter :) 
> 
> Don't worry, they'll be more chapters. Stay tuned!


	17. Chapter 17

Katherine sat in her room, legs crossed, nose in a book. This was Mother Goose's element, where she could think the clearest. 

After a few minutes, she heard someone knock on the door.  "Come in!" she called. Katherine put down the book and looked up, surprised at who had walked in. It was North, and he looked very nervous.

"North? What's wrong?" She asked. 

"The sleigh...It crashed," he said quietly. Katherine's eyes widened and she went with North to the sleigh. There, she saw that the vehicle had chips of wood broken off, some big, some small. She looked at the Russian man.

"North, what on earth were you doing? It's nearly Easter!"

"I was taking it out for a test drive." He ran a hand through his hair, hand shaking. "I should've known Seraphina was angry."

"Seraphina? As in Mother Nature?" Katherine asked, shocked. North nodded. The auburn-haired girl frowned. "Why would she be angry at you?"

"It's not me she's angry at, Katherine," he said, looking at the young woman.

"It's Jack. " 

 

- 

 

Tooth continued to fly around with he minifairies, putting the teeth she'd collected from last night in the memory boxes. The fairy paused, looking around. She felt a wind ruffle her feathers and frowned. "Jack?" she asked, cautiously. 

"Hello darling." 

The young girl looked up and saw Seraphina herself leaning against the wall of her palace, looking bored. 

"Seraphina. How lovely," Tooth said. The 17-year-old smiled small at the fairy. "You have a nice palace. Fit for a beautiful queen like you, I'm sure." Tooth blushed at that. 

"Really, you don't have to-"

"But you are," Seraphina insisted. The Queen was surprised, confused as to why she was talking in this way. It grew tense between them. "Why are you saying this?" she asked quietly. 

"I need you to do a favour," Seraphina said honestly.

 _Of course,_ Tooth thought bitterly. "What do you want?" she asked with a sigh. 

"Do you know Jack Frost?" 

"We all do." 

"Yes, yes, of course. He's a guardian, isn't he?" 

Tooth frowned, repeating and mimicking her. "'Guardian'?" she asked, making quotation marks with her fingers. "What's that supposed to mean?" 

"Well, he's not actually a Guardian," Seraphina explained, pushing herself off the wall and going over to Tooth. "He isn't unless he matures."

"Seraphina, I think you'll find none of us are mature. We're all immature in our own way."

The young woman looked surprised at the fairy's courage before regaining her composure. "Well, I would like to see Jack, so if you could tell me where he is, that would be great."

"He's at the North Pole."

"Thank you." Seraphina turned to go, but not before she looked back round and paused, her eyes lingering over Tooth's brown skin. Her voice became uncharacteristically soft. "You really are pretty, Toothiana." 

Pleasantly surprised, the 16-year-old's face flushed. "Thank you," she said. 

Then, she was left alone to answer to all her minifairies, who were wondering why Mother Nature had come to the palace in the first place. 


	18. Chapter 18

"I can't be bothered." Caleb sat down on his bed, his maths homework on his desk. He'd given up, and Claude was now looking at him worriedly. "Caleb, you...what's going on?" 

 

Caleb felt like screaming. He'd always wanted to share his secret with someone, but had never got to. He was too scared to slip that one note under his mother's door, that one stupid note that held two words:

 

 **I'm pan**. 

 

He'd been hiding it for years. He was scared to even tell Jamie and Pippa, his two classmates who went to the same secondary school as him, let alone his own brother.

 

After some time contemplating on what he should do, he put his head in his hands, and then, slowly, opened the note in his hands. He didn't say anything, just gave it to Claude.

 

"What's this?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Caleb didn't answer. With a sigh, Claude opened the note. He read the words and put the note down,  staring at Caleb before hugging him.

 

"You will always be my brother, no matter what people think."

 

That made Caleb smile.

 

- 

The oldest Bennett wringed his hands, looking out the window. It wasn't dawn yet, but the sun was just beginning to reach the horizon. Jamie smiled softly, looking at the colours. He paused for a moment, tthinking about his sister. She had a point. If he was going to do something, he may as well admit it. He didn't know about his feelings for Laura, but he knew that he had to tell someone. He finally planned that he would tell his sister later that day. 

 

Slowly, as the sun began to climb the sky, coating it in a rich pink and gold, Jamie turned away to the book he'd been reading. He picked it up and resumed the chapter he was on, unaware of the fact that Sophie had been watching him by peering through his bedroom door. With a sigh, the blonde ran a hand through her hair. If she was going to amend the changes that had been brought about in her relationship with Jamie, she'd have to do it right. She couldn't just leave it like this. The fact that they hadn't talked for two days now was beginning to really bother her.

Slowly, the girl closed the door and snuck back to her room, looking at Jamie's room with an expression of sorrow on her face before shutting the door to her own bedroom.  

Suddenly, there was a knocking and Sophie looked up, shocked to see Bunny standing on her windowpane  and went to the window, opening so the six-foot rabbit could find his way in easily. 

"Sophie, do ya 'ave that one boomerang I left 'ere last Tuesday?" 

"I think so..." Sophie rummaged her place before giving it to Bunny. "Why do you need it?" 

He looked at Sophie gravely. "North told me Jack's in serious danger." 

Without another word, he left, leaving Sophie confused and bewildered. 


	19. Chapter 19

"Jack Frost!" 

The winter spirit whirled round to see a very angry Mother Nature. He gulped in fear as she narrowed her dark brown,  piercing eyes at him. "We need to talk."

"Seraphina-"

"NOW." 

Nervous, Jack followed her into the library. She closed the door and turned to look at him. "Jack, you wounded a human." 

"What?" 

"You haven't forgotten your accident a few weeks ago? With that human girl?" 

Jack remembered that painful experience, and immediately jumped to defend himself. "She was possessed by Pitch!"

"That doesn't mean you can go and kill her!"

"But..isn't she alive...?"

"Yes...but her condition's worsened." 

"What do you mean, 'worsened'?" Jack asked, frowning. "I thought she got better in hospital." 

"On the surface, yes. Below the skin...debatable. Her mortality rate is heightened. Her blood is cooling down faster than ever and she doesn't even know it." 

"What does that mean?" 

Seraphina was silent before running a hand over her face. The usual, hard expression of the young woman softened, and if Jack looked closer, he would've seen tears in her eyes. 

"She's going to die tonight, and there's nothing you - _we -_ can do about it." Her voice cracked and she looked at Jack. Her face hardened once more. 

"I hope you have a good night, Guardian." 

Then, she left, and Jack was stuck there, consumed with shock. He began to shake, and tears welled up in his eyes. He blinked them away and sighed. 

"Hey Emily, you need to-where'd she go?"

Jack saw Bunnymund looking around the library. "She didn't beat me up, don't worry. She just let me know that I've killed someone," Jack said bitterly. He walked past Bunny, who took a few seconds to process what Jack had said before he turned round. "Jack!" he called after him in exasperation. "Jack!" 

No names were going to stop Jack now. With a determined force, the winter spirit kicked open his door and locked himself inside his room, closing it. 

Maybe this would all go away if he slept. 

 

And so, he did.

- 

Laura lay there, breathing hard. Her mum had a late night shift, so she was alone. Tears welled up in her eyes as she felt her temperature dropping.  _I'll never be a doctor. I'll never make new friends. I'll never see mom, or the Bennetts. Or Jamie._

_I hope you have a good life. See you on the other side._

Her pupils dilated, her breathing stopped, and Laura Harlow lay, staring blankly at the ceiling as finally, frost completely covered her skin. 

"Laura? Laura?" Nightlight knocked on the window, trying to get in. Why had she closed the curtains? Hadn't they agreed to meet tonight? Maybe she just forgot?

_But Laura never forgets. Unless...something's wrong._

He could sense the fault. It had something to do with winter, he assumed, and realised that maybe Laura was cold. Well, he was going to keep her warm! 

With determination, he opened the window and flew inside, parting the curtains. What Nightlight saw made him freeze. Laura lay there, dead, eyes wide open, her mouth twisted in pain, with frost completely covering her skin. Nightlight narrowed his eyes. He was going to completely kill Jack for this.

Fists clenched, tears streaming down his face, Nightlight wrote a note to Laura's mother and stuck it on the door of her house. It was better for her to be pre informed than to see Laura's dead body. He didn't want her to suffer the way she did.

Signed 'The Guardian of Imagination', the paper blew a little in the wind as Nightlight soared upwards and onwards towards the North Pole.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated in so long! I'll try to get more chapters written!


	20. Chapter 20

"So yeah. I like Laura." 

Finally, they were talking. It felt good to be back again with Sophie, and Jamie really hoped she would forgive him. However, he knew it probably wasn't easy for her; he did ignore her for two days after all. 

"Do you think she likes you back?" Sophie asked. Jamie shrugged. 

"Who knows? Maybe she does." 

There was a knock on the window. Jamie looked up, shocked. "Nightlight?" he asked. He saw the spirit had been crying and his eyes widened. He scrambled to the window and opened it. He watched the older boy breathe fast. "Nightlight, what's wrong?" Sophie asked, holding his hand as Jamie rubbed his back to comfort him. 

"It's Laura," Nightlight said bitterly. "Jack killed her!" 

"W-What?" Jamie looked at Nightlight in confusion. The spectral teen caught eye of Jamie's expression, and explained everything to him. Jamie stared. His hand fell from Nightlight's armour and he stared into space. Nightlight paused, watching him. "Jamie?" 

"I liked her." 

Nightlight was shocked at this revelation. He didn't know this. Thoughts began racing through his mind. They HAD talked about Jamie, but Laura didn't seem particularly lovestruck or anything when they did. She did become happier whenever they did though. 

"She talked about you," Nightlight said softly. "She was always happier when she did." He paused. "I think she liked you back, but I was too naive to see it." This caught Jamie's attention, and he turned to look at Nightlight, who had now gotten up from the bed. 

"Sorry for bothering you. I'm sorry. For everything." He looked at the two Bennett siblings. "I need to go now." 

Without another word, he left through the open window. Slowly, Sophie closed it to stop the wind getting in. "So Bunny didn't get there in time," she said thoughtfully. 

"What do you mean?" Jamie asked, confused. 

"Bunny said Jack was in danger...and you know that Nightlight just told us about Mother Nature being angry with him. Maybe Bunny was trying to save him from Mother Nature's wrath." 

"But he didn't get there in time," Jamie said quietly. 

"No." 

The older Bennett ran a hand through his hair. Sophie looked at him worriedly. 

"Jamie?" 

"I'm going to work. Maths can't do itself you know!" 

"Jamie-" 

"Please." He put his hand up to stop her. 

Sophie was silent as she walked to the door. She then turned to look at Jamie. 

"If you want to, you can always talk," she said. 

Jamie didn't answer. With a sigh, Sophie left him working away. 


	21. Chapter 21

Jack's door flew open to reveal an angry-lookin Nightlight, whose fists were clenched,  and a weary looking Bunnymund. They had finally managed to open the locked door. Unsurprisingly, Nightlight was pissed off. However, his face immediately melted into shock as he saw the state of Jack's room. 

There was ice everywhere. It was splattered on the walls and the ceiling, and it seemed like there were endless layers of it. The scariest part, however, was how Laura's name was being written on the walls uncontrollably, scribbled within a second. Pictures of her dead body were also being drawn. Nightlight was horrified. He stepped back, taking it all in. Jack was tossing and turning, but Nightlight didn't know if shaking him would wake him up. After all, he looked almost feverish.  _Feverish. Oh no._

Bunnymund had gone running for help, shouting North's name. 

Nightlight quickly walked over to Jack and shook him relentlessly. "Jack. Jack! Wake up!" he hissed. The winter spirit did so, and his eyes widened when he saw Nightlight.

"No, Jack, i-it's fine, I'm not angry with you! Well, a little, but that was only because the door was so damn hard to open. I..." the spectral boy trailed off, seeing Jack stare in terror around his room. 

"Is that what she looks like?" Jack asked quietly. Nightlight looked at his drawing of Laura and nearly burst into tears. The drawing depicted her hanging upside down from a rope made of frost, while her body was completely iced over. Nightlight shook his head. "N-No, her body was covered...was covered...In f-frost..." he started crying and Jack hugged him. Neither of them noticed the other Guardians standing there, watching the two with shocked faces. Tentatively, Katherine stepped inside the room. "Nightlight?"

The spectral boy looked up. He smiled nervously at Katherine. He had stopped crying. Katherine walked over to him. Jack was rubbing his back, silent. Tooth knew he appeared the stronger, but honestly, she also knew he was just as terrified as, if not more than Nightlight was. Tooth looked at Jack, who had gotten up. He barrelled into her, hugging her tightly. "I didn't mean to kill her," he whispered. "I thought she got better." 

"It's not your fault," Tooth whispered back. She suddenly realised who was really at fault and narrowed her eyes, stepping away. 

"Tooth?" Jack asked. The tooth fairy cracked her knuckles. 

"I need to knock some sense into Seraphina." 

Jack gulped. He watched her fly off and turned to North. "Is she going to kill her?" He asked. 

"No, no. Probably just going to 'knock some sense into her'." 

"Doesn't that mean she's going to beat her up?" Katherine asked, looking worriedly at North. 

"No, I'm sure she'll be fine. After all, Tooth can actually be scared of Mother Nature."

Jack frowned, thinking about this.

"I'm going to leave you two to it, okay?" Katherine asked. Nightlight hugged her once more. Gently, Katherine kissed his forehead before getting up, ushering the others out and closing the door. 

 

Suddenly, Jack heard his name being called and looked up. He was Nightlight and walked over to him. He sat down, watching the spectral boy with furrowed brows. "Yes?" 

 

Nightlight kissed him, his hands cupping his face. He then pulled away and Jack was left breathless. He stared at the spectral boy. "Why did you do that? I thought you hated me." 

"I do...kind of. I overheard correctly this time." He gave Jack a weak smile, and Jack was reminded of the time when Nightlight thought he liked Katherine. He winced, remembering that that did NOT go well. 

 

 

"Well, you still look sad. Maybe it's because you're in my room." 

"Yeah, probably." Nightlight got up and offered his hand. Jack took it and as he was pulled up with a grunt, Nightlight said, "you can sleep in my room if you want. Wait for this to clear up." 

 

Jack looked at him and smiled. "Thanks, but...I don't want to make you ill. Anyway, some of it's disappearing now." 

"But what if you-" 

 

Jack placed a finger on his lips. "No, I won't. I know I won't." 

"Alright, well...see you." Nightlight saluted and walked out, smiling at Jack before closing the door. 

 

Jack fell onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He didn't know most things, but one thing's for sure...

Seraphina had harm coming her way.

 


	22. Chapter 22

"Seraphina!" 

The woman looked up and saw Toothiana angrily flying towards her. 

Oh no. This couldn't be good. 

The fairy landed and narrowed her eyes, jabbing a finger into her chest. 

"You didn't tell Jack how to save her. You could've saved her yourself." 

Seraphina looked over Tooth's face carefully. She had never seen the tooth fairy angry before, and to be honest, it was actually quite terrifying. Instead of getting angry, though, Mother Nature just smiled, slowly walking past Tooth. "Jack needed to learn for himself. He's too reckless, too irresponsible. He needs to mature." 

Toothiana whipped round to face Seraphina.

"Well, some people take longer than others to learn."

"Then they are insufficient to survive," Seraphina replied immediately, her expression cold. Toothiana looked shocked, and stepped away from her.

"What _happened_ to you?" 

Ouch. That hurt. Seraphina looked at how offended Tooth was, and frowned. "You know exactly what, Tooth." Turning away, she walked off, climbing the forest stairs to her palace. 

"Oh no! Don't you walk away from me now!" Tooth exclaimed, zooming up into the air and following her. Seraphina narrowed her eyes and leaves shot out from her hand. They wrapped around Tooth and picked her up. While Tooth struggled, Seraphina lifted herself up using flowers and greenery.

"Listen, Tooth. For years, I have had to take responsibility for Jack's actions. The blizzard of '68? My fault. Well it isn't my fault, and it sure as hell isn't yours."

"What are you saying?" Tooth asked, still struggling.

"I'm saying, don't try to avenge him. Jack needs to mature of his own accord." Seraphina's face softened. "I've seen you Toothiana. You go around, picking fights with others, even your fellow guardians if necessary, if Jack gets into trouble. You shouldn't do that to yourself." 

"I'm NOT picking fights," Tooth hissed. "And you're just saying this because you don't want to get into a fight with me!" 

"That is true," Mother Nature admitted. She grinned and dropped her. Tooth managed to catch herself, flying up in the air just before she hit the ground. 

"However," Seraphina continued, "it's important you look out for yourself. You're too loyal for your own good. I know you want to protect him but...there's only so much you can do for a kid like him." 

Tooth sighed. "I'll take it on board Seraphina." 

"Good. Now go. You're in my territory, aren't you?" 

The tooth fairy sighed again and flew off, but she was smiling slightly as she did so. 

_I definitely provoked her. Seraphina has a lot coming her way._


End file.
